Railroad-gate



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

UL. nr. U R D 0 O W. M. Am

' RAILROAD GATE.A

PAtentedJune 30,1885.

(No Model.) 2'Sheets-Sheet A. MWOODRUPP.

A RAILROAD GATE. A No. 321,167. p9 PatentedJuAe s y I I o pq K1 n A I B WIW .l mvBNToR: A

. NY Persia 555555 upm. walhi mmmm c UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT M. WOODRUFF, OF ATHENs, MICHIGAN.

RAILROAD-GATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 321,167, dated .Tune 30, 1885.

Application filed July 3, 1884. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.:

Be it known that I, ALBERT M. WOODRUFF, of Athens, in the county of Calhoun and State of Michigan, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Railroad-Gates, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact descript1on.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification,

in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1, Sheet l, is a plan view of a portion of a railroad-track to which Iny improvement has been applied, parts being broken away. Fig. 2, Sheetl, is an elevation of one side of the same, parts being broken away. Fig. 3, Sheet 2, is an eleyation of the other side of the same,partly In section and part being broken away. Fig. 2o 4, Sheet 2, is a sectional side elevation of a part of the same, taken through the line x w, Fig. l, part being broken away. Fig.' 5, Sheet 2, is a sectional elevation of the same, taken through the line y y, Fig. 3.

rlhe obj ect of this invention is to provide railroad-gates constructed in such a manner that they will be opened by the wheelsv of an approaching train, will be held open while the train is passing, will be closed automatically 50 when the train has passed, and held closed until opened by the approach of the next train. l

The invention consists in a railroad-gate constructed with a shaft having a staple and rigid arms carrying suspended weights, and a push-bar having a shoulder engaging with the said staple and connected by an elbowlever and a bar with the inner parts of inclined bars connected at their inner ends by 4o iieXible connections held up by springs and pivoted at their slotted outer ends to supports attached to a rail of the'track, whereby the said gate will be opened by the vwheels of an approaching train. The gate-shaft is provided with a cam to raise the push-bar from` the staple when the gate is moved outward. The gate is provided with a cross-bar carrying rollers for a horizontal bar to rest upon when forced down by the wheels of a passing 5o train, the said horizontal bar being connected at its ends by flexible connections with the upper ends of inclined bars held up by springs,

4 and pivoted at their slotted lower ends to supports attached to a track-rail, whereby the opening of they gatewill be completed and the gate held open by the wheels of a passing train. With a pin or staple attached to the gate engages a bar having two shoulders pivoted to a provided at its projecting rear end with a double-inclined bar rising at its middle part above the head of the rail, `whereby the gate will be automatically locked in partly and in fully opened positions, and-will be unlocked by the wheels of a train passing away from the said gate. The two gates 'upon the opposite sides of a cross-road are connected by two pivoted bars and an intermediate sliding bar, and are thus made to Inove together, as will be hereinafter fully described.

A represents the ties, and B the rails, of an ordinary railroadtrack. To a support, C, bolted to the side of a rail, B, is pivoted the end of a bar, D, the other end of which is connected by slotted springs E,or other flexible connections, with the adiacent end of a corresponding bar, F. The forward end of the bar F is pivoted to a support, G, attached to the side of the rail B. The adjacent ends of thebarsD F, when left free, are raised about four inches above the head of the rail B by a spring, H, connected with them, and attached to a bearing, I, for the gate-shaft J, and which is attached to the base of the rail B. The outer ends of the bars D F are slotted to receive the pins or bolts that pivot them to the supports C G, so that the said bars can take a horizontal position when subjected to the pressure of the train-wheels. To the forward end of the bar D is pivoted the upper end of a short connecting-bar, l, the lower end of which is pivoted to the upper arm of au elbow-lever, L. The elbow-lever L is pivoted at its angle to a support, M, attached to the side ofthe rail B, and to the lower arm of the said lever L is pivoted the rear end `of a pushbar, N. The forward end of the push-bar N rests upon the gate-shaft J, between two of the pickets O, attached to the said shaft J, and has a shoulder, P, formed upon its lower side to engage with a long staple, Q, attached to the said gate-shaft J, and push the gate into nearly a horizontal position when the bar D is pressed down by the wheels of an approachsupport attached to a track-rail,and

ing train, the bar D being made of such a length that the gate can be lowered gradually, and will be out of the way before being reached by the train.

The shoulders l? P' of the push-bars N N' are made in such positions that the staples Q Q' will pass the said shoulders when the gates are pushed down toward the said push-bars. To one of the middle pickets of the gate J O and ot' the corresponding gate, J' O', at the other side of the cross-road, are pivoted con meeting-bars R R', the inner ends of which are pivoted to studs S S' or other supports attached to the end parts of a bar, T, resting and sliding upon ties A or other supports, so that the two gates will move together, the farther gate being moved by the nearer one.

The gate J' O' is provided with a shouldered push-bar, N', an elbow-lever, L', and its support M', a connectingbar, K', and bars F'D', connected by slotted springs E', held up by a spring, H', and pivoted to supports G' C', attached to the rail Bin the same manner as the first gate, but arranged in the opposite direction, so that the gates will be opened by a train moving in either direction.

The shafts ot' the gates J O and J' O between the side pickets and beneath the forward ends of the push-bars N N are provided with cams U U', to raise the push-bar of the farther gate, so that the gates can be opened by a train approaching the nearer gate. Upon the shafts J J' of the gates at the other side of the track, and between the side pickets, O O', rest the forward ends of the bars V V', which have shoulders NV XV', two to each, formed upon their lower sides to engage with pins X X', attached to the lower parts of the said pickets O O', or with staples attached to the said gate-shafts, the rear shoulder being designed to hold thegate from rising when partly lowered, and the forward shoulder to hold the said gate when raised.

lIhe bars V V' at a little distance from their rear ends are pivoted to supports Y Y', attached to rail B, and to their projecting rear ends are attached bars Z Z', having their upper sides inclined downward from the middle part toward each end, and having their middle parts raised above the top of the rail B. To the supports Y Y' are also pivoted the slotted outer ends of the bars a a', the inner ends of which are held in an upwardly-inclined position by springs b b', also attached to the said supportsYY. The raised inner ends of the bars a a are connected by slotted springs c c' or other llexible connections with the ends of the horizontal bars d d', which pass the gates J O and J' O', and are connected at their other ends by slotted springs ee' or other lieXible connections with the raised inner ends of the barsff'. The inner ends ofthe barsf j" are held up by springs g g' placed beneath v them and attached to the supports 7L h',whicl1 are attached to the side of the rail B, and to which are pivoted the slotted outer ends of the Said bars fj".

To the inner sides of the picketsO O', next the outer side of the rail B, are attached crossbars t' i', to which are pivoted small rollers j j', 7o

As the train in passing away from the gate passes over the bar Z' or Z the said bar is depressed, raising the bar V' or V off the pin X' or X, and allowing the gates to be raised into a vertical position or closed by the weights k 7c', suspended from the arms Z Z', attached to the ends of the gate-shaft J J'.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In a railroad-gate, the combination,with the rail B and the gate-shaft J, having sta` ple Q, rigid arms Z, and suspended weights k, of the push bar N, having shoulder P, the elbowlever L and connecting-bar K, and the inclined bars D F, connected at their in ner ends by a flexible connection, E, held up by .a spring and pivoted at their slotted outer ends to supports C G, substantially as herein shown and described, whereby the said gate will be opened by the wheels of an approaching train, as setforth.

2. In a railroad-gate, the combination,with the gate J O and the push bar N, having shoulder I), of the cam U, substantially as herein shown and descrbed,whercby the said push-bar will be raised by the outward movement of the said gate, as set forth.

3. In a railroad-gate, the combination,with the rail B and the gate J O, of the cross-bar and rollers i j, the horizontal bar d, the flexible connections 0 c, the inclined bars a f,

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having slotted outer ends, the lifting-springs v b g, and the pivotal supports Y 71 substantially as herein shown and described,whereby the opening of the gate will be completed and the gate held open by the wheels of a passing train, as set forth.

l. In a railroad-gate, the combination,with the rail B and the gate J O, having pin or staple X, of the pivoted bar V, having two shoulders, W W', and the double-inclined bar Z, substantially as herein shown and described, whereby the gate will be automatically locked when partly open and fully closed, and will be unlocked by the wheels of a train passing away from the said gate, as set forth.

5. In a railroad-gate, the combination,with the two gates J O and J' O', of the pivoted bars R R' and the sliding bar T, substantial] y as herein shown and described, whereby the two gates will be made to move together, as set forth.

ALBERT M. wooDnUrF.

Witnesses:

DE AL'roN D. DEVITT, J osnrH C. LEONARD.

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